cirque

\siʁk\

/\siʁk\/ noun

The verdict

“cirque” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #4,922. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,922
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics, et particulièrement les diverses formes de lutte et les courses de chevaux et de chars.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cirque · cirque · French

cirque · rank #4,922 · 7 variants · 17 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,922
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH chérie

Nearest frequency peer: chérie (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « cirque »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « cirque » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cirque vs crue
67% similar
cirque vs coque
67% similar
cirque vs claque
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cirque
PropertyValue
Headwordcirque
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\siʁk\
Letters6
Frequency rank#4,922
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « cirque »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.cirquese place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « chérie » (#4,921), « commander » (#4,923), « changent » (#4,920). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « cirque » est au #4,922. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around cirque (IPA \siʁk\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,922 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for cirque, with forms such as "ccirque", "ciqrue", and "cirqeu". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "crue", "coque", "claque", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is cirque, spelled C-I-R-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics, et particulièrement les diverses formes de lutte et les courses de chevaux et de chars.
  2. 2
    Entreprise de spectacle qui organise des jeux et exercices de ce genre.
  3. 3
    Bassin de montagnes disposé circulairement.
  4. 4
    Situation chaotique ; désordre.
  5. 5
    Comportement outrancier ; exagération.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cirque appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Comment concilier la passion immodérée des Romains pour les combats du cirque, et l'infamie dont ils couvraient les instrumens de ces cruels spectacles, les arénaires, bestiaires, gladiateurs ?
  2. Je ne suis pas seule en face du cirque abandonné, ils sont là, les spectateurs cruels et splendides, ils font passer en moi leur frénésie.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccirque
  • ciqrue
  • cirqeu
  • cirqque
  • cirrque
  • ciruqe
  • icrque

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cirque - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccirque1ciqrue2cirqeu2cirqque1cirrque1ciruqe2icrque2
Edit distance from "cirque"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cirque"?
"cirque" is spelled C-I-R-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is \siʁk\.
What does "cirque" mean?
As a noun, "cirque" means: Lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics, et particulièrement les diverses formes de lutte et les courses de chevaux et de chars.
What words are commonly confused with "cirque"?
"cirque" is commonly confused with "crue", "coque", "claque". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cirque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cirque" is \siʁk\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cirque" come from?
"cirque" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cirque", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list